Engagement Ring Prep For The Bride-to-be!

Prep For The Bride-to-be!

While Serena Williams has been a hot engagement topic for years, we haven’t heard her wedding bells yet. Her opponent, Sharapova, however, may not have won the gold medal, but she’s got the gold ring. She affirmed her engagement, but denied its whereabouts. The important thing is not the ring, or the proposal, but that you are ready. A marriage, by definition, is only successful if death does you part. That means, regardless of whether you really mean it or not when you say it, that you are promising to be faithful to and work on a marriage with that person, from “I do” until your last breath. Technically, this is regardless of who that person becomes, spiritually, financially, or otherwise.

So, how do you know if you are ready? Serena denies ever receiving a proposal in the first place, so it is difficult to gauge her readiness. Sharapova, on the other hand, has accepted a proposal, telling the world that she is ready. Kayla Harrison also recently said yes to the big question. How did they know? The following are some questions you can ask yourself if you are wondering whether to pop the question, or wondering whether to say yes if you get it:

1. Do you and your significant other have the same goals?

Your goals for your future should nearly be images of each other. You often hear that the leading reason for divorce in the United States is financial differences. When you dig into that statistic, however, you will find that people disagreed on how to spend their finances. Do you both want a house? Do you want to live in a metropolis or on a ranch? What are your cultural obligations (i.e. elderly parents living with you versus paying for someone else to take care of them). How much of the income may be going to help pay for children from a previous marriage? Do you expect to work once you are married or have children? If not, make sure that your expectations of financial allocations are known before you give up your career.

2. Have YOU been completely honest with your potential spouse?

If you are wondering if your “other” has really opened the gates to her/his soul to you, is it possible that this is because you have not done the same for him/her? While dating, and the difficult questions came up, did you tell the truth, but not the whole truth? Imagine now, reviving those less-than-courtworthy conversations. What would the other person’s reaction(s) be? Now imagine that the other person had similar withheld information. How would you feel? Sparing some details is not going to ruin a marriage, but sparing details to a direct question or to something that directly affects the other person and their image of you may. Remember, it takes years to build trust and mere moments to shatter it.

3. Why?

Are you getting married because you’ve always dreamed of a princess dress and the big day? Are you getting married because she’s totally trophy and won’t put out until the honeymoon? Take responsibility for the real reason you are getting married. Don’t lie to yourself, because in the long run, it will just come back to bite you. If you are not marrying that person because your goals are the same, you’ve poured your heart out to that person and s/he still loves you, and you cannot imagine a day in life without her/him, don’t do it. You will need these feelings to get through the really hard times and intense work that a marriage takes.